About FoodMayhem

In the chaotic kitchen of a recipe developer, you get a food blog called FoodMayhem.

I'm Jessica, an Asian-American, born and raised in NYC, and that's Lon, my Jewish, white husband. While professionally trained as a French culinary- and pastry chef, many of FoodMayhem recipes are my attempt to preserve and share authentic Chinese and Taiwanese recipes learned from my mom. We don't eat Chinese food every day, so you'll get a little bit of anything we find delicious enough to share: from our Eastern European side; recipes and techniques learned from my restaurant days; restaurant reviews, food travel tips; and a few other juicy bits along the way. Welcome to FoodMayhem!

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Archive for June, 2008

Monday, June 30, 2008

My mom has been wanting to take us to her friend’s sister’s restaurant, Hunan Tea Garden Hunan Tea Garden, for a while now, but it’s in New Jersey and we rarely get out there. To be more efficient, we planned a day of tax-saving shopping (poor Lon) to work up an appetite for the massive […]

Monday, June 30, 2008

I am pretty much against eating dim sum in Chinatown/Manhattan these days but it was the convenient thing to do for 7 people on our way to New Jersey. We tried Grand Harmony Grand Harmony and the short version of it is, it’s not very good. We forgot the camera in the car but nothing […]

Monday, June 30, 2008

Thank you to Julia at Backcounter Buffet for passing on the Sweet Home Blogger Award to us. Your blog has really improved since we first read and really shows the life of a busy mom that accomplishes work and feeding her family healthy, affordable meals. Congratulations to you too!
I now have the honor of […]

Sunday, June 29, 2008

***CLOSED***
Yesterday was one of those uncomfortably humid days. My clothing was getting stuck to me as I walked with Xiu to Nirvana Cafe Nirvana Cafe, where we met with Sarah, for a fun dinner of Sri Lankan cuisine.
Inside, the air conditioning was on so low, it was barely noticeable. I was sticking to the chair […]

posted by jessica at 09:20 AM Comments Off on Nirvana CafeComments Off on Nirvana Cafe

Saturday, June 28, 2008

I love Tzatziki and make it pretty often in the summer. It’s so refreshing, a perfect way to balance spicy dishes or meats coming off a barbecue grill. After making it in many different ways, I’ve decided on a recipe: I chose to use kirby cucumbers because the regular or garden cucumbers can be watery […]

Saturday, June 28, 2008

We brought back some chips from our honeymoon in the Mediterranean. We decided to try the Chio Paprika Chips last night, which we purchased from Greece but then realized that they’re actually from Germany, oh well…

The chips were reminiscent of the New York Deli Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Chips, a thinner and non-spicy version. We liked […]

posted by jessica at 11:43 AM Comments Off on Chio Paprika Potato ChipsComments Off on Chio Paprika Potato Chips

Friday, June 27, 2008

I think this is visit #14 to Sushi Yasuda. (I forgot to number it last time.) I can’t believe I still always have new fish to write about. Tonight, we had Tarpon, the red colored one on the left. Depending on the part of the fish, the flesh ranges from deep red to almost purple, […]

Friday, June 27, 2008

I was so excited to try the big ball of cheese in the basket, the Afuega’l Pitu. This one was the red variety made with paprika and/or cayenne. The texture looked great, similar to fresh goat cheese. I was planning on spreading it everywhere.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Have you been feeling like the price of food is much higher all of the sudden? If so, you’d be right. A recent agricultural post from the Cattle Network compares the price of various food stuffs between May 2007 and May 2008.
I’ve mostly heard dairy prices rising, and while eggs and milk are […]

Thursday, June 26, 2008

I’m generally bored of the modern look these days but Ippudo Ippudo manages to have that clean modern look, without feeling stale. $13 and up seems steep for a bowl of noodles, but I figured I would just try it once.
My assumptions were all wrong. I was expecting a glorified version of the ramen packets […]